Hair dryer

ABSTRACT

A hair brush or comb with apertures between its bristles or teeth is connected by a hose to an outlet of a blower which includes a heater for the generated airflow. The heater and the blower motor can be adjusted, independently or jointly, to provide different flow rates at a desired air temperature.

r D United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,911,934 Helbling 1 1 Oct. 14, 1975 [54] HAIR DRYER 3,343,530 9/1967 Solus et al. 128/65 3,491,774 l/l97O Carbone 132/9 [76]- Invemo" Edward Helbhng, 726 10th 3,820,551 6/1974 Lanzillotta..... 132/11 R Brooklyn, 11230 Rl9,724 10/1935 Martin 132 9 22 Filed: Apr. 1, 1974 Primary Exammer-G. E. McNelll PP N05 457,128 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Karl F. Ross; Herbert ,Dubno [52] US. Cl 132/9; 34/96 51 Int. 01. A45D 20/00 [571 ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search 132/9, 7, 11 R; 34/96, A hair brush or comb with apertures between its bris- 34/97; 128/65 tles or teethi's connected by a hose to an outlet of a blower which includes a heater for the generated air- [56] References Cited flow. The heater and the blower motor can be ad- UNITED STATES PATENTS justed, independently or jointly, to provide different 692,105 1/1902 Bausen 34/96 flow rates at a des'red temperature 2,827,060 3/l958 Marty 132/9 8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures Sheet 1 of 2 3,911,934

U.S. Patent Ce t. 14, 1975 US. Patent 0a. 14, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,911,934

, 1 HAIR DRYER FIELD OF THE INVENTION tufts or teeth projecting from its body; the apertures I could also be disposed at the tips of these projections.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It has already been proposed to provide such imple- I I ments with conduits through which steam from a hotwater receptacle can be led to the discharge openings for treatment of the hair or the scalp of a user. Such systems, however, are not very practical inasmuch aseven with continuous electric heatingthe water supply must be renewed from time to time and the conduit from the water bath to the implement must be short to avoid premature precipitation of the steam, thereby making it difficult for the operator to handle the brush or comb. Furthermore, care must be taken in the application of steam to a persons head in order to prevent scalding; steam, in any event, is not a suitable drying agent for hair that has been wetted.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The general object of my present invention, therefore, is to provide an improved system for drying hair, advantageously during stroking with a brush or a comb.

A more particular object is to provide means in such a system for effectively controlling the temperature to which the hair to be dried is subjected.

I SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I realize these objects, in accordance with my present invention, by the provision of a source of hot air under pressure connected through a flexible conduit to the hollow body of the apertured implement which is to come into contact with the users hair.

According to a more particular feature of my invention, the source of hot air comprises an impeller such as a fan for generating an airflow and an air heater in cascade with the impeller. The air heater and the impeller are provided with respective controls for adjusting the heat output and the flow rate in order to provide an air stream of desired temperature and intensity. If the operator wishes to change that intensity, he may do so by adjusting the corresponding control, preferably with the aid of a floor pedal next to a customers chair in the case of a barber shop or beauty parlor equipped with such a system. In order to maintain an optimum temperature with different flow rates, another feature of my invention provides for an optional coupling between the two controls to vary the heat output in step with the fan speed so that the preselected temperature remains substantially constant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other features of my invention will I FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are perspective views of various hair-grooming attachments (i.e. brushes) to be used with the unit ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram for the unit of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another attachment, i.e., an air nozzle, to be used with the unit of FIG. 1;

and

FIG. 7 is a somewhat diagrammatic representation of a coupling between heat andflow controls for the unit of FIG. I

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION In FIG. I! have shown a source of hot air under pressure, comprising a generally hemispherical housing 1 with air-intake apertures 10. A heating control 4 and a' FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 6. Heater 4 and fan 8 are adjustable, I

as described below with reference to FIG. 5 by means of a pair of control knobs 5 and 6. Housing 1 is supported on a base 21 from which an electric cord 11, provided with a foot-operated on/off switch 12, extends to a plug 14.

' I prefer to construct the housing 1 of Florentin aluminum with a baked-enamel coating which may be decoratively patterned, e. g., with a pin-stripe design. A hook 9, projecting from the housing, serves for the storage of the hose 2 in coiled-up form.

In FIG. 2 I'have shown a rotary brush with a generally frustoconical body 24 on a handle 19, the body carrying tufts l8 interspersed with discharge apertures 17 for hot air introduced through the hollow handle. The

latter has a bayonet coupling 15 complementary to hose coupling 16 whereby hot air from the interior of housing 1 (FIG. 1) can enter the body of the attachment and exit through the apertures 17.

In FIG. 3 I have shown a similar brush with an upwardly convex body25. FIG. 4 shows a flat brush body 26. The three brushes of FIGS. 2-4 may be interchangeably attached to the hose 2. In lieu of these brushes, a nozzle 20 shown in FIG. 6 may be so attached with the aid of the same kind of bayonet cou pling l5.

In FIG. 5 I have shown the fan 8 connected to supply line 11, in series with switch 12, via a potentiometer 6 controlled by knob 6' of FIG. 1. In an analogous manner, coil 4 is connected across the line via a potentiometer 5 controlled by knob 5 of FIG. 1.

With these controls 5, 5' and 6, 6' it is possible to se- Iect a suitable rate of heat generation and airflow within certain ranges. However, in many instances it will be desirable to maintain a temperature once selected even if the flow rate is to be changed. For this purpose the two potentiometers 5 and 6 may be mechanically interlinked as illustrated in FIG. 7.

Knobs 5' and 6' are shown mounted in FIG. 7 6h respective shafts 5", 6", shaft 5" being telescoped In a tubular shaft 27 which is integral with a bevel ear 32 and a sleeve 33 internally provided with teeth 37. Khfib 5' carries a button 34, urged radially outwardly by a spring 36, which is rigid with a tongue 35 extending into the sleeve 33- With button 34 released, tlifl fffl end of tongue 35 enters a groove 38 between teeth 37 so as positively to couple the knob and through it the potentiometer shaft 5" with the sleeve 33. However, a stationary cam 48 depresses the tongue 35 in an illustrated zero position in which potentiometer 5 is opencircuited so that the heating coil 4 (FlG. 5) is not energized. The several shafts are journaled in nonillustrated bearings within housing 1.

Bevel gear 32 meshes with a similar gear 31 on a shaft 30 carrying the potentiometer 5 which controls the speed of fan 8. Shaft 30 is also coupled through a pair of bevel gears 28, 29 with shaft 6" of knob 6. An endless chain 42 engages a pair of sprockets 40 and 41 on shaft 6" and on an ancillary shaft 43 which is journaled in a nonillustrated mounting on base 21 (FIG. 1) and supports a reversible pedal 39. Thus, the operator may control the potentiometer 6 either by hand, via knob 6', or with the foot, via pedal 39.

With the described coupling, the fan speed may be independently adjusted with the aid of potentiometer 6 as long as the knob 5' is in its home or zero position in which shaft 30 is decoupled from shaft 5" by the cam 48. After this initial adjustment, the operator may energize the coil 4 through the potentiometer S by turning the knob 5' while depressing the button 34 so as not to alter the previously selected setting of potentiometer 6. As the heat output from coil 4 increases, the temperature of the generated airflow rises until it reaches a desired level as indicated by a nonillustrated thermometer. If the operator thereupon releases the button 34, the two potentiometers remain coupled so that any reduction or augmentation of air speed results in a commensurate decrease or increase in heat output whereby the temperature of the air stream remains substantially constant.

In order to vary the temperature, the operator need only depress the button 34 and rotate the knob 5, leaving unchanged the setting of knob 6' and thus the flow rate of the air stream. Since this type of adjustment requires a conscious effort on the part of the operator, the risk of accidental temperature increases to uncomfortable levels is avoided.

A pedal as shown at 39 may, of course, also be used to control the heater potentiometer 5, either jointly with knob 5' or in place thereof.

1 claim:

1. In a hair-grooming implement including a housing, impeller means in said housing for creating an airflow, heating means for said airflow in said housing in cascade with said impeller means, a hollow body with at least one outlet, and a conduit extending from said housing to said body for conveying a flow of hot air to said outlet, the combination therewith of first manually operable control means for said heater means, second manually operable control means for said impeller means, link means for coupling said first and second control means together, and decoupling means for selectively deactivating said link means to enable independent setting of said first and second control means, said link means being effective to translate an adjustment of one of said control means into a compensatory adjustment of the other of said control means for maintaining a substantially constant air temperature at said outlet over a range of different flow rates.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said first control means is mechanically connected with said decoupling means for automatically operating same in a home position of said first control means to deactivate said link means for enabling free selection of flow rate independently of temperature.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said heating means is unoperated in said home position of said first control means.

4. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said decoupling means comprises a spring-biased element juxtaposed with said first control means for manual displacement during displacement of said first control means from said home position into a selected operating position, release of said element in said selected operating position making said link means effective.

5. The combination defined in claim 4 wherein said first control means comprises a knob and said second control means comprises a pedal.

6. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said conduit is a flexible hose.

7. An implement as defined in claim 1 wherein said housing is of part-spherical configuration.

8. An implement as defined in claim 1 wherein said body has a multiplicity of hair-stroking projections, said outlet being subdivided into a multiplicity of discharge apertures interspersed with said projections. 

1. In a hair-grooming implement including a housing, impeller means in said housing for creating an airflow, heating means for said airflow in said housing in cascade with said impeller means, a hollow body with at least one outlet, and a conduit extending from said housing to said body for conveying a flow of hot air to said outlet, the combination therewith of first manually operable control means for said heater means, second manually operable control means for said impeller means, link means for coupling said first and second control means together, and decoupling means for selectively deactivating said link means to enable independent setting of said first and second control means, said link means being effective to translate an adjustment of one of said control means into a compensatory adjustment of the other of said control means for maintaining a substantially constant air temperature at said outlet over a range of different flow rates.
 2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said first control means is mechanically connected with said decoupling means for automatically operating same in a home position of said first control means to deactivate said link means for enabling free selection of flow rate independently of temperature.
 3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said heating means is unoperated in said home position of said first control means.
 4. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said decoupling means comprises a spring-biased element juxtaposed with said first control means for manual displacement during displacement of said first control means from said home position into a selected operating position, release of said element in said selected operating position making said link means effective.
 5. The combination defined in claim 4 wherein said first control means comprises a knob and said second control means comprises a pedal.
 6. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said conduit is a flexible hose.
 7. An implement as defined in claim 1 wherein said housing is of part-spherical configuration.
 8. An implement as defined in claim 1 wherein said body has a multiplicity of hair-stroking projections, said outlet being subdivided into a multiplicity of discharge apertures interspersed with said projections. 